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Jan 07, 2019

No-deal Brexit could put public at risk

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has warned that a no-deal exit from the European Union could threaten access to EU-wide criminal databases and make it harder to extradite people from abroad.

Speaking before the new year, the UK's most senior police officer told the BBC that the force was talking to other police forces across Europe about contingency arrangements if needed. With the UK set to formally depart on 29 March, the UK will cease to be a member of law enforcement agencies Europol and Eurojust after Brexit, as well as no longer being a member of the European Arrest Warrant scheme, which enables EU nations to fast-track the extradition of criminal suspects.

Dick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the UK's policing co-operation with the EU was based on a framework of ‘legal instruments’ which would have to be replaced after its exit, stressing that having to ‘replace some of the things we currently use’ will be ‘more costly, undoubtedly, slower, undoubtedly and, potentially, yes, put the public at risk’.